After Obama was elected in '08, the city was electric. As one poster mentioned, it was as if a NY-ification of DC began happening almost immediately. The period between the election and inauguration was one big party (bars open all night, celebs in town, a sense of hope and joy among people that I've never seen before). Around this time, DC also became a more attractive destination as a place to live and work. The city itself began to change with an enhanced culinary scene, new neighborhoods on the upswing, more local businesses opening up, etc.

Whether or not Obama's policies lived up to the hype is one's personal preference, and the changes/gentrification in the city had its pros and cons, but this was a very transformative time for DC. Neighborhoods changed drastically (H Street, Shaw, Petworth, Navy Yard, etc.).

These days, the changes are still noticeable, but the atmosphere is different. Parts of DC that were recently pretty great are now interchangeable with Clarendon and other cookie-cutter suburbs. I've also noticed the sense of community in some neighborhoods has vanished a bit. In the H Street area about 10-15 years ago, everyone knew each other, looked out for on another, and it seemed much smaller and community-orientated. Nowadays, that vibe is gone. It's thousands of folks packed into apartment buildings who will never meet their neighbors and who walk briskly down the street with earbuds from one destination to the next. Not saying there is anything wrong with this, it's just different. Couple that with soaring housing costs, and a whole chunk of the population that used to live here is gone.

That went a little off track, but as a transient city--some people stay, some people go. I'm at an age where folks are now in the suburbs, moved elsewhere in the country, or are scattered in different parts of the city.